


x. farewell forever

by icymapletree



Series: febuwhump/febufluff 2020 [10]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Character Death, Dad Peter Parker, Febuwhump, Gen, Peter Parker is a Good Dad, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:06:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22657498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icymapletree/pseuds/icymapletree
Summary: Grandpa Tony has cancer, Ben knows that. But he never really thought that it would mean death.
Relationships: Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: febuwhump/febufluff 2020 [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1618837
Comments: 31
Kudos: 144
Collections: Peter Parker is a Good Dad





	x. farewell forever

**Author's Note:**

> i tagged it and left a warning but in case you didn't see that, this has a major character death. can't say i didn't warn you (:

Grandpa Tony has cancer, Ben knows that. But he never really thought that it would mean death.

Death is such a weird thing to Ben. It’s not something that’s taboo in their house - weekly, his mommy will look at Daddy, kiss him on the lips - _gross_ \- and then scold him about almost dying. But this is different, Ben thinks, because Grandpa Tony dying isn’t going to be sudden like an accident that could happen during one of Daddy’s battles.

Ben wants to fight battles. He doesn’t want cancer. 

He knew something was wrong when Mommy had him sit at the kitchen table. They _never_ sit at the kitchen table unless it’s something important. 

Daddy looks sad. Sadder than Ben had ever seen. His eyes are red and puffy, and recently his face has been wearing a frown. 

“You know how Grandpa has been sick, right?” his dad asks.

Ben nods, furrowing his brow.

“He got sick from the _radiation_ that was in the glove that he snapped with. Do you remember learning about that at school?”

Ben nods again. He’s only six, but they’ve already learned about the Blip. They learned about holidays, and one of the biggest holidays in the _universe_ is Blip Day. It’s supposed to be a happy day, celebrating life and his grandfather. Of course he’d like it. He never understood why Daddy is unhappy on that day while everyone else is celebrating. Once, he overheard his father tell his mother that he lost a part of himself on the battlefield that day.

Ben doesn’t know what he means by ‘lost a part of himself’ - he’s not an amputee like Grandpa. But, the word radiation does ring a bell - it’s a word that Helen has used to describe him and his dad.

“Am I going to get cancer?” Ben blurts out.

His mom quickly shakes her head. “Why would you think that, sweetie?”

“I have radiation too.”

His mom and dad exchange a look, and his dad starts to talk fast, rambling like he does when he’s nervous. “It’s a different type of radiation - it can’t hurt you. Tony’s came from the battle and his body didn’t like it. Yours is from a spider. It’s good radiation. I have it, too - it’s what makes us sticky… you have nothing to worry about.”

“Oh.”

“It’s okay to be worried. I know you’re worried about Grandpa Tony, and that can make things confusing.”

“We want to take you to see him, if you want to,” his mom says, “He’s not going to be the same as you remember--”

“I want to see him,” Ben says immediately. Why wouldn’t he want to see Grandpa? 

“Okay.” His dad sighs. “This is to say goodbye, buddy. We want you to know that, and we think it’s important for you to do this. It might make you feel better when he does-- die.” His dad choked out that last word. Ben wonders why. It’s just a word.

His mom quickly jumps in. “We want you to know that he might look a little different. He’s going to be breathing a little slower. His heartbeat might be slower, too, and we know that you can hear it. His skin will be pale, or maybe even a little blue, but it’s nothing to worry about.”

“Where is Grandpa?” he asks, “Why don’t they just give him a kiss all better?”

“He’s at the medical wing in the compound,” his dad answers, “he will have a lot of machines hooked up to him, and don’t worry, they’re there to help him.”

“You remember going to the med wing when Daddy was hurt, right? And he had all those machines?”

“Daddy was dying, too?”

“No, no, no,” his mom clarifies, running fingers through her hair, “When Daddy was there, it was just like when you needed the doctor because your broken arm healed wrong. Helen helped you, remember? She’s helping Tony, but for a different reason.”

“She gave me a juice pop,” Ben reflects, “Why don’t we just give Grandpa a juice pop?”

“His boo-boos are too big for juice pops, buddy.” Ben’s face falls. “But I’m sure he would love it if you brought him a juice pop. We’ll go see him tomorrow.”

Ben nods, and the whole family tries to ignore the somber tone that fills the remaining evening.

**x**

His dad is already gone when Ben wakes up on Saturday morning. He went with Uncle Rhodey and Uncle Happy, his mom explains. 

“Why couldn’t I go with them?” Ben asks as he velcros his shoes.

“They’ve known Tony for a long time, sweetpea. They need a little bit more time to say goodbye.”

“Oh.”

In the car, his mom turns up the _Frozen III_ soundtrack loud enough to try to cover up her crying. She thinks that Ben doesn’t hear her, but Ben has super-hearing. How silly of her to forget. 

It’s raining outside, and the droplets on the car windows are merging together then running down in streaks. The clouds make the sky so dark that it almost looks like nighttime. 

They go to the supermarket first, picking up a vase of daffodils - Grandpa’s favorite.

Ben holds the flowers in his lap, and a half an hour later, they finally make it to the winding back roads that lead to the Avengers compound. It has been rebuilt many times, according to his father. But the building’s always been the same to Ben - long, white and light blue sterile hallways. Not the place that his grandfather will die.

The little experience with mortality that Ben has tells him that Grandpa should die in his sleep at home, not hooked up to machines. But his mommy told him that this is to make Grandpa as comfortable as possible until he passes away. 

When they walk up the path that leads to the compound, Ben can tell that this is different than all of the other times they visited. Everyone seems to be sad, just like him.

His mom knocks on the door, but no one comes to unlock it. 

“They probably need a moment,” his mom says, wiping her eyes and taking his hand as they sit against the wall outside the room. “We’ll get to see him soon, I promise.”

Ben gives a small nod, and he’s never felt more scared in his entire life. His Ben tingle isn’t even going off, but he wants to leave the hallway so bad.

“Let’s go find him a juice pop,” his mom says after some time, desperate to get Ben moving. 

They go to the freezer upstairs and select a red fruit punch juice pop, Grandpa’s favorite. 

When they return, Aunt Morgan peeks her head out into the hallway, and gestures them into the room.

His dad is sitting by Grandpa Tony’s bedside, holding his hand. Grandma Pepper holds the other. 

“Hi Grandpa,” he squeaks, “I brought you a juice pop.”

“Mm,” he says, forcing a smile, “I love juice pops.”

Grandpa doesn’t look he thought he was going to look. Ben thinks he looks more like a shadow, rather than the awful condition that his mom prepared him to see.

His dad releases his grip on Tony’s hand, grabbing a plastic cup from the nightstand and placing the juice pop upside down in the cup. Pepper releases her hand as well, and Tony takes a bite of the popsicle before handing the cup to Peter who places it on the nightstand.

Ben wants to ask why he didn’t finish it, but Grandpa just smiles. “Do you want to sit in my lap?” he asks, and Ben nods jerkily. Grandpa pats a spot on the bed, and his dad helps him up. 

His mom asks if he wants to color a picture for Tony. He wants to ask _why_ \- Tony won’t be able to keep it for very long. But Ben just nods. It seems like he’s been doing a lot of that recently. 

She passes him a coloring book full of black and white pictures of puppies. Tony loves puppies. 

“I think I’m gonna name this one Spot,” he says, using a purple crayon to make stars all over the dog.

“Spot is very cute,” Tony says, clicking his tongue, “I wish real dogs had purple stars and green ears.”

Ben nods. “That’s what I told my daddy! He said that it was unethic-acal.”

Tony’s lips upturn, and Peter blushes. 

The family stays like that for a long time, Ben coloring and telling stories, the rest of them wrapped in comfortable silence.

“Mr. Stark, is he okay right there? I just want to make sure you’re--”

“You can call me Tony, kid, it’s okay. You’ve called me by my first name before.” He coughs. “And Ben is fine right where he is.”

“Let me know if he gets to be too much… Tony.”

Grandpa smiles, and Ben isn’t exactly sure why.

They finish coloring, and Ben gives his grandfather the flowers. The smile doesn’t look quite as forced when Pepper places the vase on the windowsill. 

His mom carefully tears the coloring page out of the book, and his father rushes off to find a frame. When his dad returns, he props the picture up on the shelf. 

All of his aunts and uncles as well as Grandma Pepper and Grandma May smile, and that’s when his mom tells him that it’s time to go. 

He leans right up next to Grandpa Tony’s bed. “I love you, Grandpa Tony,” he whispers in his ear, “I’ll really miss you.”

Tony wipes his eyes. “I love you too, Ben,” he says quietly, pressing a kiss to his temple.

Ben doesn’t know when he started to cry, but the tears were coming in silent streams down his face as his tennis shoes squeaked on the linoleum floor.

His mom takes him home, and he eats ice cream. When he asks where Daddy is, Mommy says that he is going to stay the night with Grandpa. That happens the next night, too, and the night after that.

Two weeks more, and Ben is standing on the boardwalk at Stark cabin, watching his grandfather’s old arc reactor float away.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! i hope this wan't too sad
> 
> come talk to me on [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/icymapletree)


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